Here is another website i submit chapters to under different
names in order to hear peoples from around the world take on
issues effecting americans,people of color and foreigners in
america and our view from the world.
Log in or register to commondreams.org
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Home
Headlines
Views
Newswire
RSS
About Us
Donate
Sign Up
Archives
E-mail this article
Printer-friendly
Share
Discuss
Home > Views
Published on Tuesday, October 7, 2008 by CommonDreams.org
Why America's Problem Is Cultural, Not Political
by Stephen Gabow
Here are some questions that ask the same thing in different ways. How can McCain/Palin even stand a chance in this election, given the state of the country? Why hasn't "conservative" become a dirty word, given the results of the last 8 (or is it 30) years of conservative rule? How come the Republicans get away with lies, dirty tricks, thievery and gross hypocrisy, over and over again? Why are congressional Democrats so spineless, so deferential around Republicans?
I think the answer is that conservatives and Republicans are more attuned to the American people and to the roots of American culture. I cringe to say this, but somehow deep in our values, hopes and dreams we are primed to be conservative. And the Democrats, being politicians, can sense it; they know it in their heart of hearts.
To begin with, America has been soaked in poisonous homegrown racism for three hundred years. It affects every American child. Yet even aside from that elephant-in-the-room, we have to fight our native culture to maintain a leftist perspective.
Citizens of other countries can draw on their own revered cultural icons to promote rebellion or revolution, or the notion of a social community. In 2004 Canadians voted for "The Greatest Canadian." Tommy Douglas, a socialist and reformer known as Canada's 'father of Medicare,' won the honor. The English have Robert Owen, the French have Emile Zola, the Germans Karl Marx, among many others.
What about the USA, home of revolutionary democracy? Who do we have? Franklin Roosevelt? Joe Hill and Eugene Debs? Martin Luther King? The freedom riders? Elizabeth Staunton and Susan B. Anthony? Mario Savio? Malcolm X? John Brown? Tom Paine? Emma Goldman? With the exception of King and FDR we remember these people only vaguely, if at all. Our founding father heroes have been stripped of their revolutionary content, to emerge in our times as staunch Christian conservatives. Whether Thomas Jefferson was actually an agnostic social revolutionary is not the point; he is perceived as something else.
We love stories about poor boys making it big. Who of us has not dreamt of being a millionaire? We admire and love Bill Gates and Henry Ford by making their lives into stories of good men working hard and earning their wealth and freedom, and by excising anything negative from their stories. Our high school students know that Henry Ford built the first mass-produced automobiles, and that he offered a living wage to his workers. We don't recall, though, that Ford advocated for Hitler and published anti-Semitic crap in his Dearborn Independent.
On TV and radio we are deluged by endless get-rich-quick commercials; one salesman after another hawking his easier, faster way to make "life-changing" money. Or we peek into millionaire mansions, the "cribs" of the rich and famous, the garages full of Ferraris and Rollses. Or we watch the parade of new luxury products. Is greed really good, we wonder? Haven't too many Americans come to believe that making money in itself is a goal worthy of a lifetime's pursuit? In Thailand they talk of "suspiciously wealthy" individuals--people so rich one should be suspicious of how they got it. We have no similar concept.
Who can count the American heroes dispensing justice from their fists or from the barrel of a gun? From John Wayne to Charles Bronson, Dirty Harry to Rambo and the young Vito Corleone, we thrill to our heroes walking tall, carrying a big stick (but preferably a gun, which is much more practical) to right the wrongs of society. They do it pretty much alone. No social action to achieve social justice here.
Rambo invades Vietnam to free American prisoners. Bronson's character fights and kills the evil inner city gangs. They both avoid the incompetent government and corrupt police force. A despicable judicial bureaucracy wrongly stops Dirty Harry from dispensing real justice.
Here we have a righteous vigilante who fights for freedom, and also, of course, his beloved family. The young Michael Corleone does what is necessary to "protect his family." We want to forget he is a gangster and murderer. We want to forget Bronson's character is killing, because he is right to fight evil in any way he can.
In all this there is a strong flavor of the virtuous ends justifying the means. If you have to lie, cheat and kill to achieve the Kingdom of God on earth (the true America), so be it. Sound familiar?
When Rambo blows up a hundred Vietnamese to rescue American prisoners, we know he's only killing bad guys. Bronson's character kills and the bad guys' blood runs in the streets. No innocent victims here!
We can't cheer Rambo in the real world, but we can swear our undying love for our soldiers, somehow forgetting that their messy job involves killing innocents. And when our fighters come up with slogans straight from Rambo, like "killing is our business, and business is good," we shrug.
Americans don't vote for eggheads. I remember Adlai Stevenson running against Eisenhower. Stevenson didn't stand a chance, not least because he was pegged as too intellectual to be President. We prefer our leaders to be plain spoken, practical men who don't think or read too much. A cowboy, maybe. It is hard to think of an American icon, fictional or real, who is an intellectual. Who comes closest? Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, Mark Twain?
I bet John Wayne would be a strong supporter of the Bush administration. He would cheer us on to "victory" in Iraq and Afghanistan. We'd have to respect the opinion of such an American hero. But then we forget that John Wayne was born Marion Morrison, and it is documented that he was a draft dodger during World War II.
Stephen Gabow has been an activist since the Free Speech Movement and is a physical anthropologist, and Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at San Francisco State University.
E-mail this article
Printer-friendly
Share
Discuss
Posted in Politics, War & Peace, Election 2008
62 Comments so far
Hide All
Comment viewing options
SundayRoast October 8th, 2008 3:09 am
"We'd have to respect the opinion of such an American hero. But then we forget that John Wayne was born Marion Morrison, and it is documented that he was a draft dodger during World War II."
Brilliant!
Too true. Just like 99% of the rest of the Republiclans of the Republic, for which they stand.
Homophobic queers the large lot of them.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
thegreatrockyhill October 8th, 2008 12:42 am
Dissent is as American as apple pie. Don't ever count the American people out. Don't ever right us off. The elites are holding the people hostage, and they will be felled. There is a groundswell building.
I'm American, and I believe in US. I get frustrated and angry with my brethren at times too, but I will never ever write them off.
To those who stereotype and slander the American people, you only play into the hands of the right-wing and essentially emulate them. But we'll show you. Laugh if you want, but chances are, if you're laughing, if you're throwing barbs at ordinary Americans, a people who being stepped on by the elites too, regardless of whether they hail from trailers or projects, then you likely don't have a true stake in positive social change.
The changes that can come affect ME. I am not wealthy nor have I ever been. I am not a homeowner. I am $18,000 in debt. I quit college in part because I simply couldn't afford to continue. I am now making about $30,000 a year, the most I have ever made in my 34 years.
Am I better off than many people? You bet. But I am a paycheck or two away from falling off of a cliff, and most Americans are in the same situation.
Does the right have anything to offer me? Hell no. They are not my friends. Whenever they pander to me it rolls off of my back. I refuse to believe that I am an anomaly. I know that I am not alone. That's why it burns me when I hear people on the Left insult Americans and spit on us. I look at the Right, and I know that my best interests aren't being served there. I'd like to think that ordinary people, workers, poor can take solace in the Left, not kicked in the stomach when they are outside in the rain. We are not stupid, violent, cowboys as a whole, and we do not deserve to punished, exploited, or denigrated.
For every "God Bless The USA" you have a "Fight the Power" or a "Disposable Heroes." Keep that in mind.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
socrates2 October 7th, 2008 11:32 pm
Mr. Gabow,
Refer to Orwell's "Raffles and Miss Blandish," an essay on the possible origins of this pernicious trend.
"The fault is not in our stars but in ourselves..."
http://www.orwell.ru/library/reviews/chase/english/e_bland
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
amitola October 7th, 2008 10:58 pm
MARKETING is EVERYTHING!
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
enliven October 7th, 2008 11:51 pm
No,
.
[____ P E R C E P T I O N ____ I S ___]
[_______ E V E R Y T H I N G _______]
.
W E _ E A C H _ have the __ C H O I C E __ of what our
___ I N T E N T I O N __ p a y s
___ A T T E N T I O N __ to
Namaste
See __enliven October 7th, 2008 11:49 pm __
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
thegreatrockyhill October 7th, 2008 8:37 pm
I don't see how our culture is inherently conservative when the main thread running through the history of this country has been the elites vs. pretty much everyone else. Why is there so much support for socialist reform and a general disillusionment with war if we're all allegedly hunter-killer apes?
Jingoism, DYI law and order, and get-rich-quick ads are only parts of American culture. They don't necessarily define it.
I mean, the author brings up Chuck Bronson and John Wayne. Are they even relevant anymore? How many young people even know who they were?
To suggest that our problems are merely cultural is to suggest that the have-nots have brought it on themselves, and that lets the elites off the hook. It's akin to conservatives shaking their fingers at the black community, blaming their plight on hip-hop and such.
A very shallow essay not to mention a bit smug.
Every nation on Earth has dirty laundry.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
jimmyjazz October 7th, 2008 8:33 pm
Not a bad article. American cultural conservatism comes from being the leading imperial state ("superpower" in euphemistic parlance) in the world. Read the history of British politics during the British empire--it was exactly the same. You'll read the same kind of crazy, nationalistic, conservative, racist tripe coming out of the lips of British cultural and political leaders as is coming out of the lips of American politicians and preachers today.
There were rebels in Britain, of course. Orwell was one:
"All left-wing parties in the highly industrialized countries are at bottom a sham, because they make it their business to fight against something which they do not really wish to destroy. They have internationalist aims, and at the same time they struggle to keep up a standard of life with which those aims are incompatible. We all live by robbing Asiatic coolies, and those of us who are ‘enlightened’ all maintain that those coolies ought to be set free; but our standard of living, and hence our ‘enlightenment’, demands that the robbery shall continue."
Rudyard Kipling was another:
God of our fathers, known of old--
Lord of our far-flung battle line
Beneath whose awful hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine--
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget - lest we forget!
The tumult and the shouting dies;
The captains and the kings depart:
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget - lest we forget!
Far-called, our navies melt away;
On dune and headland sinks the fire:
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget - lest we forget!
If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe--
Such boasting as the Gentiles use
Or lesser breeds without the law--
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget - lest we forget!
For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard--
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding, calls not Thee to guard--
For frantic boast and foolish word,
Thy mercy on Thy people, Lord!
And of course, America has its anti-imperialist rebels, past and present. Like Mark Twain (too long to c&p):
http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/making/warprayer.html
And perhaps most importantly, the exploited third world has produced its own prominent opponents of imperialist exploitation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ5WR_svilY
I don't expect the current conservative climate in the U.S. to decline until American power declines on the world stage. As it declines, we'll probably see a spike in conservatism, as a reaction and a sort of last flail. Perhaps George Bush and Sarah Palin are sign that we are in this "last flail" period now. But hopefully we can exit the spotlight somewhat gracefully and join the rest of the world in a partnership of equal states. I hope that we can guide the world situation to become one where the rule of international law and morality takes precedence, rather than the rise of yet another imperial superpower. One thing is for sure no matter what: our American arrogance is a reflection of a position that *can not* and *will not* last forever.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
KDelphi October 7th, 2008 6:07 pm
It is only possible to be all the things you claim US citizens to be, if you are a capitalist.
I am not a capitalist. McCain is a capitalist. Obama is a capitalist.
Hell. all the candidates are capitalists, some with alot more devotion to it than others.
Until we can be like the rest of the "free" world, and have many parties--Green, Labor, Socialist Democrat--this primitivism will continue. The protestent capitalistic ethic is dead. Or it should be.
We are suffering from its deadly effects right now.
Had enough yet? I guess not.....
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
NativeSon October 7th, 2008 7:24 pm
Socialist, Capitalist, Conservative, Progressive, Democrat, Republican---
These are simply "footnotes"---Americans are for the most part----"talking monkeys", very few have concerns any farther than their own belly, brain, or crotch.
The recent "bail out" should close the door for any further discussion on "What American Culture is"---------
It is convenient. Given the circumstance from one moment to the next--Americans are capable of the utmost possible good while at the same time the exact opposite. They are capable of the most absurd logic (in this section of the universe anyway) and will go to insane lengths to act upon that logic.
They most likely have assured themselves a place in history as THE primary negative example of humanity, society, culture, and nationalism.
Then again, if in the future those who would build a nation with promise,hopes and dreams would have the USA as an example of WHAT NOT TO DO.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
lbcanuck October 7th, 2008 5:46 pm
As a Canadian I always need to do some "work" during the summer when I run into the many NON-North American Tourists that come to the areas of Toronto where I work and like to hang out...the "work" involves explaining that while Canadians DO like and respect Americans- we ARE NOT Americans- the differences are excessive GUN culture- excessive INDIVIDUALISM to the point of REAL damage to the Society we all must live in- myopia about anything "NOT AMERICAN"- remarkable IGNORANCE about pretty much ANY OTHER Country/place/culture on EARTH...I still reliably hear Americans thinking we live in IGLOOS, my God, where does this COME FROM? A friend living in Austin Texas, working in technology, found his daughter's friends (Grades 7 and 9) had really, really little understanding of Canada- FAR less than his daughters had of the USA- my friend, an Engineer, was very concerned as to the quality of Education in Austin- and that city is considered "above par"...so yes, I will ALWAYS have respect for America and Americans...always- but man, as a SUPERPOWER you have more than a little ways to go to earn it!
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
TruthTeller October 7th, 2008 10:46 pm
Americans think you live in Igloos? Why does that surprise you. A goodly portion of Canadians think Americans live in mega-churches, all carrying concealed weapons. Some of the idiotic comments here are equally inane: "All Christians do this or that...All Americans are uncultured, etc etc."
All this ought to tell you is that stereotyping is stupid, even if you are stereotyping Americans.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
z October 7th, 2008 4:36 pm
"I cringe to say this, but somehow deep in our values, hopes and dreams we are primed to be conservative".
So why the Democratic Party membership much larger than the GOP?
How about this instead? "Somehow deep in our values, hopes and dreams we are primed to think the Democrats aren't conservative".
Also, I'm an American, so leave me out of this whole "we' business.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
gonzonews October 7th, 2008 4:18 pm
Double Duh !
http://www.alternet.org/election08/100551/mad_dog_palin_/
Mad Dog Palin
By Matt Taibbi, RollingStone.com. Posted September 27, 2008.
excerpts:
" The scariest thing about John McCain's running mate isn't how unqualified she is -- it's what her candidacy says about America. "
" I stared at her open-mouthed. In that moment, the rank cynicism of the whole sorry deal was laid bare. Here's the thing about Americans. You can send their kids off by the thousands to get their balls blown off in foreign lands for no reason at all, saddle them with billions in debt year after congressional year while they spend their winters cheerfully watching game shows and football, pull the rug out from under their mortgages, and leave them living off their credit cards and their Wal-Mart salaries while you move their jobs to China and Bangalore.
And none of it matters, so long as you remember a few months before Election Day to offer them a two-bit caricature culled from some cutting-room-floor episode of Roseanne as part of your presidential ticket. And if she's a good enough likeness of a loudmouthed middle-American archetype, as Sarah Palin is, John Q. Public will drop his giant-size bag of Doritos in gratitude, wipe the Sizzlin' Picante dust from his lips and rush to the booth to vote for her. Not because it makes sense, or because it has a chance of improving his life or anyone else's, but simply because it appeals to the low-humming narcissism that substitutes for his personality, because the image on TV reminds him of the mean, brainless slob he sees in the mirror every morning."
PAX !
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
USAn October 7th, 2008 5:14 pm
Good points.
The most dangerous aspect of the USAn self-absorbed form of individualism, is thst it prevents them from even seeing the greater social, political, economic and environmental forces that profoundly affect them - they seem stuck with a dysfunctional notion that absolutely everything in their lives is purely their own achievment.
I shiver to think how such attitudes could lead to incredibly destructive levels of neighbor-against neighbor brutishness in the coming hard times. It will not be a replay of the 1930's when solidarity and mutual aid allowed many communities to survive.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
toast October 7th, 2008 5:12 pm
There's some real truth wrapped in that cynicism. Both McPalin and Obiden offer nothing but some of the worst qualities of what this country has grown to represent... but they are good mirrors.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
gonzonews October 7th, 2008 4:10 pm
Americans may very well be the most ignorant literate people on earth !
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
KDelphi October 7th, 2008 6:10 pm
You know, I agree that the US has a long way to go. But, this type of shit is really getting old. Acting liek people that dont agree with you , must be stupid and illiterate,makes you look stupid and illiterate.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
advocate October 7th, 2008 10:35 pm
KDelphi you said:
"Acting liek (sic) people that dont (sic) agree with you , (sic) must be stupid and illiterate,makes (sic) you look stupid and illiterate."
gonzonews said: Americans may very well be the most ignorant literate people on earth!
Get it, KD? gonzonews said "literate" not "illiterate".
Now who is it that looks stupid and illiterate? I'll give you a hint, KD: it isn't gonzonews.
You have, however, given more evidence to the truth postulated by a man who is not generally regarded as either stupid nor illiterate:
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." –Albert Einstein
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
davidpeace October 7th, 2008 4:06 pm
Note that in most movies that come out of Hollywood, the bad guys are generally brown, non-Anglo, especially if it is a group of bad guys, further entrenching our institutional racism. Our culture reveres violence, especially at the end of a gun. Just look at what most Americans are force fed on the boob tube. Lots and lots of cop shows, westerns, both with guns a'blazin', lots of war movies. Many parents use the tv to babysit their kids (my mother did for me and my sisters), “look at the pretty pictures” and they sit idly by watching for hours. Our cartoons are filled with violence, and despite many of them not specifically written and produced for children, most Americans tend to think of cartoons as being for children. And so they are turned on, and they sit and watch, totally engaged. (If the cartoon isn't filled with violence, it is generally a 30 minute commercial meant to encourage the kid to beg Mommy and Daddy for the latest Barbie doll....) On the nightly news there are stories by the dozen many times with lurid details of violence and crime. We get from tv a twisted, distorted view of our own society (Mentally ill people are dangerous, beware young black men, cops are always rightous and pure and government officials have the interests of the masses firmly in the front of their minds at all times...) Is it any wonder we are scared and paranoid, religious fundamentalists who are easily led? We come into the world screaming, and if we aren't, the very first thing that happens to us is that we are slapped. We are weaned on violence. Admit it to yourselves, how many of you have watched a Nascar race just to see them make left turns all day? No, you watched, and this includes me, hoping to see a crash. Same with other sports, we tune in especially rapt when there's violence: a dugout clearing brawl, American football, boxing. The first thing we have to do, to make serious changes in our country, is to turn off the tv – or better yet, get rid of it altogether. But that would go against the other pillar of American society, rampant, mindless consumerism: buy, buy, buy, especially crap that we don't need, that really doesn't enhance our lives. A suggestion: destroy the tv, it's one way communication now used mainly for indoctrination.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
Will B October 7th, 2008 3:30 pm
The first successful European settlers in America were Puritans. They flourished and founded our major early industries in New England. They were joined by other settlers, some religious, some religious fanatics, and some non-believers - the rest were either indentured peasants or slaves who didn't matter to those lovely fundamentalists. But that puritan gene seems stamped on our character. Canadians and Australians don't suffer the same quirks; they have their own, but by all means they are preferred. As a result, "middle" Americans are cautious about uncertainty and uncomfortable with nuance. We prefer rock & roll over blues and jazz - even though the later two preceded the first. Jazz is really the antihesis of our puritan culture because it's functionally modern, it doesn't adhere to convention and almost worships abstraction. As a result, its often difficult listening. Rock, on the other hand - all you need is three chords and 300 Amps. The puritan approach and our relative isolation have doomed the modern, secular third of our population to bear the burden of evolution and shucking this inheritance - Rational Man's Burden, so to speak! I guess we're on the cutting edge of our modern moulting....God help us!
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
billiam1 October 7th, 2008 3:26 pm
These underlying cultural examples are the dirty underbelly of American society, but you have to remember that they didn't really kick in full force until a political operative named George Bush became the finest corporate president in American history. Bush and his henchmen played up every one of these bad strains, not unlike a drug dealer would push his wares on an as yet unaddicted victim. Rambo was just Rambo in Post-Vietnam America until Bush unleashed the demons. This is not to say however that bin Laden didn't do his part. Push a stick into a honeycomb and the disturbed residents will have found a reason to become irate, but it was Bush's boy crying wolf shtick for monetary gain that brought to an end the world's idea that America is a moral nation.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
davidpeace October 7th, 2008 4:54 pm
Bullshit. Read the history of this country unadulterated. These themes, such as Rambo strike such chords in many of Americans because of the way we are brought up to revere the individual above everything else. Look at Wall Street, full of "self-made" individualists who compete with each other and use money to keep score. Look at some of our sayings: "I got mine", or "keeping up with the Joneses". Look at our sports: Boxing is about one individual dominating another. Many people don't necessarily identify with teams, but they will with the "stars" on those teams. These "underlying cultural examples" have been with us in this country for many years; I would say since before we became a country. The Bush Jr. years we are suffering through now seems to have made them more naked and exposed. But that has happened with in other periods of our history as well. We seem to need to learn lessons over and over and over again, about every other generation or so. We don't really study our own history, let alone the history of the people's that we invade/conquer/drop bombs on. Example: people are focused on the stock market as an indicator of the health of our economy and when it goes down sharply think that we are headed for bad times. (We are but not because the Dow took a nose dive. Even when it goes down the millionaire gamblers that have rigged it into the largest casino on the planet, make tons of money.) They fail to see the inherent problems of the system that creates bad times, but when they do moan and groan and seek to find someone to blame. This will go on for sometime before they actually get to work trying to solve the problem. Sometimes they get it right, most of the time they don't. And even when they do, those lessons are not passed down to the next generation strongly enough because the same things keep happening over and over and over again. The bubbles of the '20s that led up to the Great Depression are just like what has happened to lead to our present dilemma, only the specific details are different.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
USAn October 7th, 2008 3:17 pm
The most distinct feature of the USA is the toxic sort of excesive individualism, and aversion to community and solidarity that pervades it's popular culture. It comes out as a sort of sense of entitlement that allows USAns to guiltlessly pursue their selfish interests with absolutely no regard to people even in their immediately community.
But it not to be confused with genuine individualism, Suburban USAns are stunningly stereotyped in their interests and pastimes - professional sports teams, gargantuan pickup trucks or SUVs, thise awful 4-wheel things that are destroying every wild area, tasteles watery beer from Colorado, and mass marketed electronic gadgets.
One only has to travel across the border to Canada, or even just read the Candian press, to see this difference - although USAn attitudes are filtering up there.
And one can absolutely forget about ever seeing any but a tiny minority of USAns ever get concerned about all the awful violence and eath that is inflicted on (seemingly always darker-complected) poeple of other lands in their name...
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
KDelphi October 7th, 2008 6:16 pm
My father used to live in Detroit and taught at Wayne State Univ. It was a rough place to me, who had grown up in a rural area. But, most people were cool, especially his students.
When I wanted to go out by myself or with some of the students, my dad would drive us over the border to Canada.
In that short drive, the murder rate went from 100s that year, so far, , to 1. I could walk the dark streets without any worries,.. All of us could.
I'm not sure it is stil that much different. But, I do think that the entire culture is more community based. They take responsibility for their fellwo citizens. Until US starts doin g that, we will remAin primitive.
I watched a Canadidna debate lsast night, online. I hope that Canada dosent trend conservative--I dont think that people there would put up with it. But, we do. Year after decade after century
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
Poet October 7th, 2008 2:56 pm
From Native American genocide to African American slavery, to the indentured servitude of every new wave of immigrants who arrived via sweatshops, and company town ghettoization, this country has been built on a foundation of violence and thievery. We came by it honestly since the European settlers who came here were the descendants of the conquistadors, inquisitionists, landlord-serf exploiters, and other intolerant strains of Europe.
The irony is that we saved Europe and Asia from their fascists while surrendering the US to our own homegrown variety. After showing the world a better way, we refused to heed the lessons we taught them.
Poet
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
enliven October 7th, 2008 10:58 pm
Hi P O E T,
Although I agree substantially in your comments, I suspect that it was mostly the disenfranchised and marginalized Europeans who immigrated, having little of the freedoms there that they desired -- while the children of the old elites came later, looking more for greater opportunities that were no longer as prevalent in Europe ( as they didn't have any freedom issues ).
These waves of immigrants had much to dream forward of, little excess baggage, and had known all to well the lash of the overseers -- and these new patriots of America's promise, are the core of our country's goodness -- even today.
Of course, the carpetbaggers, weak willed sloths, bankers, and criminal opportunists ( is that redundant ? ) came as well -- but they had different dreams of taking over "easy street", which was basically the creation of a new hidden aristocracy and power base.
My view of history is that ultimately, the true rise of fascism _r.e.q.u.i.r.e.d_ its apparent demise -- while transferring and further concentrating massive levels of wealth through centuries of warmongering ( and senseless murderous suffering of billions ). The duplicity of the faint of America's "victory" over fascism, is a subtle irony of an early attempt at globalization ( a trial ballon ).
Your own comment about the irony of 'America saving Europe from fascism, while surrendering to our homegrown variety', is true at an overall and general level. I believe that the same centralized profiteers for war, manipulated minor and major world conflicts since the Renaissance ages, to bring us to this moment.
Our current fork in the road was only very dimly imagined as possible, until the recent catastrophic economic eruptions and collapses. The masses of people in our culture, are in part being lead ( along the false branch ) by the false promises of greed ( quick wealth & power ) used as a carrot to entice those otherwise good people to turn against each other and those of country's of less advantages.
We each have the _ C H O I C E _ to select which path we're going to take ( at every moment ),
___ along the road of LIFE with egalitarian sharing and caring, or
___ along the road of DEATH, of egregious suffering, manipulation by the powerful, and imbalance
Namaste
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
BILLofRIGHTS October 8th, 2008 12:14 am
hey ,what is it now, enliven, what country Namaste what country? You never answered me, a month or 2 ago, I try not to be on this trappping sight, often. Is your country okay or as bad as you had said it is becoming? I am trying to pull together a regular site. I got the Domain and such, albeit I left one for Veteran and Political links and things on CD I am privy to due to the VFP and Veterans Against Torture, I have read them a week before they sre on this spy site. No html, no way to get in touch to let you know when it's up and running 'cos Namaste I need a contributor such as you to get the posters going. damn i miss your pix and cartoons and way cool stuff, your typing style gives it away every time. I come here and search for it, normally I say nothing but my big mouth has gotten the better of me recently.
Hope all is well, hope we can communicate sooner than later. Article.II.Section.4
BillofRights
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
bililjv October 7th, 2008 2:55 pm
This article only scratches the sad surface. The fact is, there is a large (approximately half) contingent of our nation who are, from birth, taught to be racists, bigots, and to be thoroughly deluded by the time they reach the age where they can read. They are called Christians - mostly fundamentalist Christians, but even moderate ones as well. In addition, there are many people who are just looking to vent their frustrations and anger - anger at the unfairness of society, anger at the inequality of the rich vs. the rest of us, anger at the seeming inability to have any voice in government, etc... and these people have found an outlet for their hatred, bigotry, and delusion in the Republican party.
The right-wing media talk shows work these people up to a frothy-mouthed frenzy. These people then make death threats to people they disagree with. They have turned the word "liberal" into a catch-all for their hate. They repeat it over and over until you can almost see their blood starting to boil. It is scary, and reminiscent of the hate that spewed forth from the Nazi party.
There aren't many solutions to this until the media in this country starts to actually act in the public interest instead of using media as a propaganda tool and a bullhorn for inciting hatred. Additionally, this country has to stop perpetuating religion if it cannot be proven to be true. Believing in Santa-like fairy tales from 2,000 years ago or believing in "chosen people" theories that are racially biased and hate-prevoking are a recipe for this type of problem. It will never go away until these issues are addressed. Which, in truth, means that they will never go away, because there is money to be made in deluding the people, and there is power to be had in claiming that you are a chosen people/race. Where there is money and power, there are the opportunists, and therein lies the final root of the problem - GREED.
All of this is, at it's root, GREED AND FEAR in the human condition. Fear of change, differences in people, and uncontrolled instinct to have more. Sad thing is, most people (even Dems) aren't immune to greed. Most everyone can be bought. It's a really, really sad state of affairs, and it's getting more polarized every day, especially as we waste our natural resources.
At this point I'm not sure we have earned the right to continue on as a species - not when we can be so easily brainwashed by religion, so blinded by hatred, and so completely consumed with greed and lust for power.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
Brian Brademeyer October 7th, 2008 8:09 pm
Well said.
The first thought I had about why the Republicans have not been laughed off the court is that the media is totally in lockstep with these Republicans thugs. This might also explain a part of the Dems craveness.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
Phoenix Down October 7th, 2008 2:54 pm
America's other problem is that our society is too sheltered. We only had one civil war. We never had enemy tanks rolling down our streets or daily bombings from countries who want to steal our natural resources. The ideologically driven wars we start only happen in territories where nations can't strike back. So ultimately we have become a nation of whiny, scared, arrogant, might-makes-right bullies who jump up like fleas when any blowback hits our shores.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
frank1569 October 7th, 2008 2:33 pm
Another reason why America's problem is cultural is that, for the most part, conservatives offer nothing cultural. There are very few conservative painters, fiction writers, music-makers, movie/TV creators, comedians, etc. Art requires enlightenment on some level; conservatives, by definition, avoid change and self-reflection - IOW, enlightenment.
This is why conservatives so often rail against the "Hollywood" they can't get enough of - because all they do is consume the culture they themselves are unable to create, which leads to a deep, mostly un-admitted resentment towards the creators, which manifests as hatred and anger and racism and bigotry.
Just look at the examples above - Bronson in "Death Wish" was a bleeding heart liberal, even after he went vigilante. Rambo was libertarian - he just wanted to be left alone. Young Vito Corleone started out as a defender of the defense-less in his neighborhood and went on to be a major supporter of liberal politicians...
Imagine an America dominated by "conservative" culture - what would we have? Country and religious music, God art and endless movies touting the importance of "traditional family values?" And a ripoff of "A Christmas Carol" staring a Michael Moore lookalike, of course...
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
Thomas More October 7th, 2008 2:42 pm
What about the folks that favor conservative economics and liberal social policies? It's not you are one or the other is it? Aren't most people except extremists like the Neocons a mixture of different things and viewpoints?
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
advocate October 7th, 2008 4:05 pm
"Conservative economics" and "liberal social policies" is oxymoronic (if I may be allowed to coin a term).
Conservatives by definition want to maintain existing conditions and conditions that exist include:
Over forty million US citizens who lack any kind of health insurance; health care for millions more limited to the point that allow suffering and death that wouldn't occur with access to quality care. For example, diseases of gums and teeth have been connected to a variety of serious maladies including heart disease.
Other conditions that exist are homelessness; inequality before the law between those who lack means and those that have it; inequality in opportunity of education; toxins in the dirt, buildings, air, and environment in the neighborhoods of the poor found far more often than in the neighborhoods of the affluent; a tax structure that favors the rich over the poor; a government that constantly violates the constitution and international laws in military actions that have resulted and continue to result in ongoing suffering and death including that of US citizen in the military; government taking citizens labor in the form of taxes to give to individuals and industries involved in the war industry.
Liberal social policies include eliminating all of the afore-mentioned existing conditions.
Conservatives don't want to change social polices that would change these conditions and certainly don't want to pay for them. Liberals do want to change the social policies that would change these conditions and are willing to pay for them.
Therefore:
Liberal social policies are impossible without liberal economic policies and
Conservative economics equals conservative social polices.
"Compassionate conservatism" is a flat out vicious lie.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
elainem October 7th, 2008 11:30 pm
There is also the definition: "cautious: avoiding excess". I think this is the meaning we have really lost sight of. You don't have to spend a lot of money to legislate and fund good social policies. You just have to spend it well, with the people you spend it on as the first priority.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
Remy Germain October 7th, 2008 2:10 pm
“With the benefit of the lessons of our history we are destined to repeat many otherwise preventable policy mistakes because we believe ourselves to be exceptional.” – Dr. Robert
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
toylit October 7th, 2008 2:08 pm
Sorry but amerikkka is NOT anti intellectual, or stupid or brainwashed, that would be the MEDIA....
We are people of every stripe kind and color, yes we have a brutal history, yes the powerless always seek an empowering context for their fantasy selves.
That context is transforming before our very eyes, and for many it is welcome. The pendulum is swinging back, and for those invested deeply in the old context it would appear as a wrecking ball.
Do not suppose that the old order will fade away gracefully, Those in power who sense control slipping away fom them will inflict great wounds on their way out. This is always been the case in domestic situations as well as the grand scale. A BRAND NEW CONTEXT for our lives and communities is HERE, it is not going away.
I would say keep your head down, love your children, cooperate in your community so that everyone is warm and fed, and prepare for a wave of domination like you have never imagined possible. The old context is ANGRY and FRIGHTENED, as you would be if you suddenly found you were dying.
This wave of institutionalized fear will pass, but it has had an amazingly long run, We will all learn a lot during this crazy awakening.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
davidpeace October 7th, 2008 4:23 pm
"Sorry but amerikkka is NOT anti intellectual, or stupid or brainwashed..."
Yes it is. I remember in high school, where I did very well academically, but lousy socially. I remember overhearing the comments "he thinks he's so smart..." Unfortunately I have a high IQ with a competitive spirit so I strove to be the best in my classes. But that meant I was shunned by most everyone else. I wish I could say that I just had a bad experience, that it was just that high school, but it wasn't and isn't for many youth today who know that they can't rely on their lack of brawn, or cracking voices for any success. I went to several high schools (my father was in the Navy, so we moved frequently) and it was always the same. When I take the subway home today, I occasionally share the train with students and I here them saying the same kinds of things. Even the president himself, who half of the electorate thinks is okay enough to vote for many times, prides himself on his mediocre academic achievements. Americans want someone they can sit down and have a beer with, or party with, not someone who is exceptionally bright and can see the world in paradigm shifting ways that will actually solve problems.
As for the dying comment, we need to look at that differently also. Dying isn't a bad thing. That and birth are something that we all share in common and should themselves be one of many points for building a caring, inclusive society instead of the isolationist, rugged individual one we have and have had for quite some time.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
SundayRoast October 8th, 2008 3:22 am
My 6 year old reads at a third grade level and Loves science! However, he struggles socially. We moved more times than I would have wanted to and life hasn't been perfect as I would have imagined it, he is also an only child. We count our lucky stars that we got him into a very good public school, where, now that he is in the 1st grade he is finally getting academic recognition and encouragement. Alot of pressure was on during the pre and k level classes to be social. Being socially adept is certainly important, but his "differentness" made him really struggle. Not only does the school have the resources to challenge him, by the kids there are gentle. Too many schools are rough and the kids dont get any kind of cushy life. They take it out on the smart ones. My son has already been punched mercilessly about the head by a neighbor from a different school.
Life is both mighty and fragile.
Sadly, the smart ones are isolated from the rough crowds. The divide will probably last a lifetime.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
kivals October 7th, 2008 5:20 pm
I had experiences similar to yours, and so when my Chinese wife informed me that in Chinese schools the most academically successful students were also the most popular, I was shocked. She said that in Chinese schools the social hierarchy could change each time someone did very well on a test and that was part of the motivation for the students to perform. The US must have about the most upside-down back-asswards self-destructive culture of any rich nation in history. But that will change. Soon the US will not be described as "rich" by anyone.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
raydelcamino October 7th, 2008 2:04 pm
logansafi is right, many Americans are impotent people who will vote for anybody who makes them feel good about themselves by reinforcing the idea that they are on "THE winning team".
Ronald Reagan and every subsequent Republican candidate has recognized and exploited this trait.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
toast October 7th, 2008 1:57 pm
'Americans don't vote for eggheads."
duh... but they always vote for liars and corporate shills.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
Samski October 7th, 2008 1:19 pm
This culture is exported wholesale to almost every corner of the globe. Some countries try to reject it, with ever-decreasing success. Modern communications deliver it quickly, ubiquitously and to the minds most susceptible to it - the young.
Heaven forbid you restrict it's spread or economic and military punishment will follow.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
phasor October 7th, 2008 1:12 pm
The point...
"If you have to lie, cheat and kill to achieve the Kingdom of God on earth (the true America), so be it."
That is the underlying absurdity, hypocrisy, moral bankruptcy,and perversity of American culture.
There are other ways.
Change.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
FrederickJohnson October 7th, 2008 1:10 pm
Maybe if America dropped its machoegotistical mania and grew the fuck up, it wouldn't be the LOSER it is today. Try being a true independent, a real liberal/progressive, or a reasonable but moderate conservative and you'll get persecuted by both sides.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
USAn October 7th, 2008 2:45 pm
The very concept of the word "loser" is itself a uniquely USAn word. No other words in other languages quite convey it's meaning. People lose sporting competetions, or debates, but thay are not "losers" as USAns use the word. This speaks volumes about the USAn character.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
RichM October 7th, 2008 3:17 pm
Very true. I suspect the special American usage of this word relates directly to "no-holds-barred" capitalism. The social system encourages hatred, contempt & blame for everyone at the bottom.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
matti October 7th, 2008 8:16 pm
Yes.
And this line of thought brings us to the flaw in the article's reasoning and the outlook of many self-described "liberals".
The United States does not have the Socialist Culture or Socialist Cultural Heroes of Canada or other countries becasue it is the place where Socialism has been most thoroughly defeated!
If this guy remembers Adlai Stevenson then why does he seem to forget this?
Because of the corruption of Government and the excuse of opposition to "Communism" the Labor Union Movement was castrated in the U.S., then Socialism was made into a taboo concept (as they have tried to do with even Liberal!).
Eugene Debs is forgotten only in the "culture" -more often a Teleculture that happens only in TV Land and not the real World- that has been imposed upon the U.S. after the triumph of Corporatism and Greed that occurred in the wake of Victory in WWII and the rise of the -largely imaginary- "Cold War".
Winning has become everything and people and ideas have become perpetual "losers" because of IMPOSED CONTROL and FAILURE OF MEMORY not underlying "cultural" issues like the ones the article ludicrously claims guide the "success of conservatives".
But why look at history when you can just make shit up, huh?
Don't Panic,
-matti.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
logansafi October 7th, 2008 1:08 pm
Of course the problem is in American cultrue and the American people themselves. It is always the case in imperialist countries, where even the poor and downtrodden in these countries are convinced to be prideful and arrogant about 'their' Empire's imperialist control over others.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
Mordechai Shiblikov October 7th, 2008 1:08 pm
Here are some questions that ask the same thing in different ways. How can McCain/Palin even stand a chance in this election, given the state of the country? Why hasn't "conservative" become a dirty word, given the results of the last 8 (or is it 30) years of conservative rule?
The Republican party is NOT conservative! Its left wing is reactionary and its right wing is fascist. Please, please, please, STOP USING THE WORD "CONSERVATIVE", which is not necessarily bad and has many admirable elements to it. Reactionaries and fascists have no philosophy but that of the gun, the knife, the fist and when you have the other guy down on the ground, crush his head and stomp him to death with your boots, then take his wallet, spit on his corpse and swagger away, laughing. That's the Republican party. Stop calling these street thugs in thousand dollar suits CONSERVATIVE.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
Unforgiven_1 October 7th, 2008 4:12 pm
Hey - just as soon as rush limbaugh/ann coulter can utter the word LIBERAL without venom oozing from the corner of their mouths.
Don't get me wrong, there are bits of conservatism I can go along with - but definitely not as a way of life. Just try and get one of these uber-conservatives to admit as much.
That's what I thought.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
seek truth October 7th, 2008 1:08 pm
Yes, we are anti-intellectual. Even the author of this article, reaching to be inclusive of women, got it wrong. It's Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Look her up, she's an important patriot.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
Stone October 7th, 2008 12:59 pm
Don't worry, be happy, we're almost over.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
Taverner October 7th, 2008 12:49 pm
This is 100% - correct. A big part of our anti-intellectualism stems from our obsession with religion. Unlike other countries where churches stand as mere museums, we are packing bigger and bigger sports-arena-sized churches with the mindless masses asking the church elders tell them what to do.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
Kane Jeeves October 7th, 2008 1:07 pm
Right on. I do have some hope though. I was actually happy in one regard when Bush was selected. We finally got a chance to see what unadulterated Old Testament Christian rule would look like in America. Before Bush it was just festering behind the scenes. Now it's on display for all to see, and the results are clear.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
NateW October 7th, 2008 12:26 pm
Gabow failed to mention an important American cultural touchstone, the Horatio Alger myth. Alger was a series of popular novels during the 19th century of characters who become rich due to their pluck and hard work. The net effect of this popular fiction was that it romanticized individual achievement to the underclass to the detriment of collective action. A current day manifestation of this is the desire of poor youths to get out of the 'hood vis a vis sports or music (where the chances of success are remote) instead of taking mass action to remedy the situation to which they are born into. It is a peculiarity of the American character that the union movement has yet to overcome.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
mediaho October 7th, 2008 12:19 pm
Finally ... someone who says it like it is. We are culturally depraved. And no one .. not on Cd nor elsewhere ... do we acknowledge it.
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
RichM October 7th, 2008 3:13 pm
Wait a minute. I'm on CD, and I have no reticence at all about acknowledging that "we're culturally depraved." I say stuff like that all the time! So there!
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
kivals October 7th, 2008 4:22 pm
Ditto!
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
baruchzed October 7th, 2008 12:16 pm
Seems to me that at this point in human progress, it is time to move beyond ideology and polarization to seeking common ground for co-existing with people of different ideologies. We see how ideology is exploited by the psychopathic political and business "leaders" of the world to keep them in power and to enrich them with material wealth at the expense of Earth and all life on Earth.
Ever have a conversation with someone without invoking ideology? Not only is it possible, but it feels good. Humans, for the most part, want the same things; to be able to live in peace, to enjoy our families, friends, communities, and just being alive. Focusing on ideology extends the illusion that agreement is more important than co-existence, but it isn't!
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
KDelphi October 7th, 2008 6:22 pm
Very well put
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
quickstepper October 7th, 2008 10:27 am
Interesting if somewhat unimaginative article.
The political power of anti-intellectualism in the US is a issue that has been discussed ever since our founding - a discussion that obviously has never included those with such a view. America's weakness in education is a direct result of that attitude.
The author's message fails to explain how Bill Clinton, a college professor who didn't serve in the military, was elected to the presidency twice.
q
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
KDelphi October 7th, 2008 6:23 pm
When was Clinton a "college professor"??
Login or register to post comments
report this comment
Join the discussion:
You must be logged in to post a comment. If you haven't registered yet, click here to register. (It's quick, easy and free. And we won't give your email address to anyone.)
CommonDreams.org is an Internet-based progressive news and grassroots activism organization, founded in 1997.
We are a nonprofit, progressive, independent and nonpartisan organization.
About Us | Donate | Contact Us | Sign-Up | Archives
To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.
© Copyrighted 1997-2008
www.commondreams.org
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment